Simbri syntax

Nominal sentences
Nominal sentences consist in a subject and a nominal predicate; there is no copula: Weltinqa Memoq

weltinqa Memoq

student Memoq

Memoq is a student Sobetlām Memoq

so-betlām Memoq

1-friend Memoq

'Memoq is my friend' The noun is always given in the independant form: Niris sosoron

niris so-soron

small 1-garden

'My garden is small'

Niris bon

niris bon

small king

'The king is small' The predicate and the subject agree in number: Bone mores

bon-e mor-es

king-DU people-DU

'These two men are kings' Wabir nātchi.

wabir nātchi

stupid\PL horse\PL

'Horses are stupid'

The predicate noun takes the appropriate subject prefix: Šiennas

ši-ennas

2-clever

'You are clever.' Šišalle

ši-šall-e

2-beautiful-DU

'You're both beautiful.' Nate min omasin

nate min o-masin

cat and OBV-fish

That's a cat; and that's a fish. The proximate third person has no prefix -- or, in an alternate interpretation, is marked with a null prefix ∅-. An interesting consequence is that a single noun is, in effect, a complete sentence: Bon.

∅-bon

∅-king

'It is the king' Nātchi

∅-nātch-i

∅-horse-PL

'They are horses.'

Noun phrases as predicate.
A full noun phrase can be used as a predicate: Bon lami Wanateras

bon lam-i Wanateras

king good-A Wanateras

'Wanateras was a good king'

Tlorja issawi totlā baskar Memoq

tlorja issaw-i to-tlābaskar Memoq

ugly old-A G-under tree Memoq

'Memoq is the ugly old man under the tree.'

The pronominal suffix, if any, are added to the first element of noun phrase: Šibetlas lami

ši-betlas lam-i

2-friend good-A

'You're a good friend' yeasindi jebbi

ye-asind-im jebb-im

1.EXCL-musician-PL inept-A.PL

'We're terrible musicians'

Relational sentences.
Relational sentences are sentences where a relational phrase serves predicate: Totlā baskar Memoq

to-tlā baskar Memoq

G-under tree Memoq

'Memoq is under the tree' Ošewōn ōcca an wetlis.

ošewōn ōcca an wetlis

B-near porridge that book 'The books is close to the porridge' The appropriate subject prefixes are added to the relational, before the class agreement marker: Šida Lōqris

ši-ši-da Lōqris

2-C-towards Lōqris

'You're on the road to Lōqris' Watotlā baskar

wa-to-tlā baskar

1-G-under tree

'I'm under the tree' Relationals mark neither dual nor plural, so relational sentences can be ambiguous as to number. The two example sentences can be translated 'You two are on the road to Lōqris', 'We are under the tree', and so on.

Introducing the subject with an
The subject can be introduced with one of the three particles an, o or yi.

an is simply used to separate subject from predicate: Bon lami an Wanateras

bon lam-i an Wanateras

king good-A that Wanateras

'Wanateras was a good king' It may have a demonstrative value: Bolli an moris

bollō an moris

crazy that person

'That man is crazy.' The main purpose seems to disambiguation; it is often -- though not always -- used when predicates are complex noun phrases: Tlorja issawi totlā baskar an Memoq

tlorja issaw-i to-tlābaskar an Memoq

ugly old-A G-under tree that Memoq

'Memoq is the ugly old man under the tree.' Its used is mandatory when word order deviates from strict Predicate Subject: An Memoq tlorja issawi totlā baskar.

an Memoq tlorja issaw-i to-tlā baskar.

that Memoq ugly old G-under tree

Sentencial subject
The subject of a non verbal sentence may be a noun phrase -- with the predicate a noun phrase or relational phrase. Sasās an satewān.

sa-sās an sa-tew-ān.

1-brother that 1-call-PRS

'It is my brother that is calling me.' 'The one calling me is my brother.' Dosōr sādor an olomi yemmo.

do-sōr sādor an o-lom-i yemmo

F-inside house that B-grind-PL amaranth

'It is inside the house that they grind the amaranth'. 'Those that ground the amaranth are inside the house.' Qenis an wahakmō

Qenis an wa-hakmō

Qenis that 1-order\PRF

'Qenis sent me', 'It is Qenis that sent me.' The construction is comparable to a cleft sentence in English, and serves the same purpose. The noun phrase is promoted to the predicate position (and brought near the beginning of the sentence), bringing it into focus.

Subject with o or yi
o can be used instead of an with subjects that have been established as obviative. Otlebaho wannin issawi; oissawi o babhami.

o-tle-baho wannin issawi; o-issawi o babhami.

3.OBV-devour panther old / OBV-old OBL.that dysentery-die

An old woman ate a panther; she's the old woman who died of dysentery. ''Co tlewoya čemon mapse hoqi? Hān, omapse o mewoya hoqi. Očonallo o mapse.''

Q 3.OBV-hit\PRF priest boy baby / not / OBV boy OBV 3-hit baby / OBV-demon that.OBV boy.

'Did the priest hit a little boy? No, it's the little boy that hit him. That boy is a demon. The predicate must be marked as obviative: očonallo 'demon (obviative)', omapse 'the boy (obviative)'.

The obviative prefix on verbs is removed immediately after the particle o:


 * *o omewoya → o mewoya.

However, if an other element is present between the verb and the particle, the prefix is kept: *omapse o čemon mewoya → omapse o čemon omewoya


 * OBV-boy OBV priest 3-hit → OBV-boy OBV priest OBV-3-hit

'It's the boy that hit priest.'

The particle yi, used instead of an, calls special attention to the subject and establishes it as the next topic: webtlis yi mapse

webtl-is yi mapse

IPRF\annoy-PL look boy

'Look at that annoying boy!' 'Speaking of annoying people, look at that boy.' This is best translated as 'look!' (or 'behold!')

Marking tense, mood and evidentiality.
As Simbri has no copula, non-verbal sentences are usually not marked for tense or mood. More specifically, tense or mood are assumed from the context: Tleasset lemo issawi an wisi yeni min tleka.

tle-ass-an lemo issaw-i an wisi yen-i min tle-ka

3-PRF\meet-REP miller old-CL.1 that woman young-CL.1 and 3-daughter

'The old miller learned to know the young woman and she was like a daughter to him / he wished she was her daughter.' Adverbials may give an indication of time and mood: Meinder tlesas Marran.

Meinder tle-sas Marran.

hopefully 3-at Marras

Hopefully Marran will be home.

Tetlon čemon an bon.

those.times priest that king

'Kings used to be priests.' 'In those times kings were priests.' If a verb phrase is the subject of a non verbal sentence, the verb will be marked for tense and mood. Qenis ''an wihakmō. -- Marro an yihakmon.''

Qenis an wi-hakmō / Marro an yi-hakm-on

Qenis that 1-order\PRF / Marro that 2-order-REP.SUBJ

'It is Qenis that sent me -- I thought it was Marro that sent you'

Tetlon bon an tlepran isim

Tetlon bon an tl-epr-an is-im

those.days king that 3-IPRF\propitiate-REP god-PL

In those days it was the kings that sacrificed to the gods.

Marking tense and mood with a related verb
Another way of marking tense and mood is to replace the predicate noun with a related verb. A few examples:


 * bon 'king' → ibon 'to reign'

Ibnan Tōmmo

ibn-an Tōmmo

reign-REP Tōmmo

'Tōmmo reigned' 'Tōmmo was king'


 * darqa 'knife' ←dayar 'to cut'

Lamen widarqa→ Lamen widaiyar

lam-en wi-darqa →lam-en wi-da yar 

good-CL.4 1-knife →good-CL.4 1-cut

 'I have a good knife' →'I wish I had a good knife' 


 * čemon 'priest' ←čomon 'to run, to order, to oversee'

wačemon → wačemnis

wa-čemon → wa-če mn-is 

1-priest →1-IPRF\oversee-FUT

'I'm a priest' → 'I want to be a priest' The process can be summarized in that way: most nouns are deverbal, formed from verbs by fairly transparent derivation process. Likewise many verbs are formed from nouns. The derivation often remains transparent. Simbri speakers, often being aware of the derivation, will substitute a closely related verb to a noun to mark mood and tense.

That logic does not extend to aspect. For instance: čemon 'priest' is the imperfective infinitive of čomon. Imperfective verb forms may be used to mark tense and mood: wačemnet 'I used to be a priest', čemno 'Maybe he's a priest.' The perfective sense canno't be used in that sense, however: wahakmō 'I have ordered, I have overseen' but not *'I have been a priest.'

Nonce verbalization
To mark tense and mood on a nominal predicate, if there is no related verb available, a nonce verbalization may be used.

For monosyllabic nouns, the nonce verbalization is formed by prefixing i-:

mas 'dog' →imas 'to be a dog, act like a dog' Šitleimsan Erseq.

ši-tle-ims-an Erseq

2-CL.1-dog-REP Earth.people

'I hear you're the Earth people's dog' Otherwise, simply use zero derivation:

tloyo 'sun' →tloyo 'to be the sun' Tloyan doqo ma an Tarisa

tloy-an do-qo ma an Taris-a

sun-REP CL.6-over temp

le Taris-LOC

'The sun was over the temple at Taris.' ibn-an Tōmmo

Limits to the use of related verbs and verbalization
At this point we may wonder if we're not fooling ourselves, and if there is, indeed, a distinction between nouns and verbs in Simbri.

As we've seen:


 * Nouns freely occupy the predicate position.
 * Although we attempted to explain it through the use of related verbs or nouns verbalizations, it certainly looks like nouns will take on verbal morphology:
 * čemon 'a priest, he is a priest' + past tense -et→čemnet 'he was a priest.'
 * Tloyo 'there is, it is the sun' + reported past -an →tloyan 'there was, it was the sun.'

A more accurate picture is that nouns may use verbal morphology, within certain limits:


 * There must be no verb that can be inflected in the sentence:
 * Tloyan doqo ma an Tarisa 'The sun was over the temple at Taris' but **Tloyan an baqqō 'it was the sun that rose.' Here, a verb baqqō 'to rise' is present and it is that verb that will be marked for tense: Tloyo an baqqan 'it was the sun that rose.'
 * Aspect distinctions cannot be used at all:
 * šiimsan 'you're a dog' is acceptable, but imperfective *šiemsan or perfect *šiamsan are not acceptable.
 * The use of a related verb or a verbalization is often marked:
 * Šitleimsan 'you're their dog' is insulting.
 * Tloyan doqo ma an Tarisa is poetic, and adds the nuance that the condition is no longer true -- in that case it adds a sense of nostalgia and sadness over the loss of Taris and its temple.

Although relationals are close to nouns -- and indeed, often are nouns, they cannot use verbal morphology:

We may conclude that Simbri does keep a noun-verb distinction, although the distinction is different from what speakers of other languages, especially European languages, may be used to. Using English as a reference from:
 * *doqan ma Tloyo '*over the temple was the sun' is not acceptable. Regardless of the timeframe, doqo ma Tloyo 'Over the temple is/was the sun' must be used.


 * English nouns are used as arguments, and cannot be used as predicates without a copula. They cannot be inflected for tense or mood -- the copula is.
 * By contrast, Simbri nouns can be used as arguments and as predicates. They can be inflected for tense and mood under restricted conditions; they cannot mark aspect.
 * Simbri verbs can be used as arguments and predicates. They can be inflected for tense, mood and aspect.

Word order
The usual word order, as we've seen, is Predicate - Subject: Weltinha Memoh

weltinha Memoh

student Memoh.

Memoh is a student. Tasōr tlayin ma.

ta-sōr tlayin ma.

CL.8-in city temple

'The temple is in the city. ' Adverbials and other adjuncts are placed either before the verb or after the subject: Apoa watala Čardosa

apoa wa-ta-la Čardosa

yesterday 1-CL.8-at Cardosa

'Yesterday I was in Cardosa"

Teča howin sintis, meronal weltinhi

teča howin sintis / meron-al weltinh-i

when away master / tavern-at student-PL

'When the master's away, the students are at the tavern.' Habon ermo ečain tola nanči.

habon ermo ečain tola nanči.

poor harvest last.year CL.7-at mountain-PL

'Last year in the mountains the harvest was poor. '

Verbal sentences
The unmarked word order is Verb-Subject-Object: Tlebaho wannin somā

tle-baho wannin s-omā

CL.1-PRF\devour panther 1.EXCL-grandmother

A panther ate my grandmother. An indirect object will usually appear after the subject and direct object: Dotletečman sōrsa Piyon an sādor sohāysa.

do-tle-tečm-an s-ōrsa Piyon an sādor so-hāysa 

Cl.6-CL.1-give-REP 1.EXCL-uncle Piyon that house 1.EXCL-cousin

Uncle Piyon gave this house to my cousin. That also goes for noun phrases promoted to indirect object by an applicative: Metldotatlna o mayan kādas tlammi  baror 

OBV-CL.1-CL.6-APPL.PRF-sell OBV knight donkey lame-CL.1 revenge

'He sold the knight a lame donkey for revenge. ' As with nominal sentences, adverbials and adjuncts will either occur before the verb, or at the end of the sentence after (if present) subject, direct and indirect object: Čaya tleātawaymis mayan bon Yeworisan boyam dosōr tlenamon.

čaya tle-ā-to-waym-is mayan bon Yeworis an boyam dosōr tlenamon.

tomorrow CL.1-CL.5-APPL-kill-future mayan king Yeworis that sword CL.6-inside CL.1-palace.

'Tomorrow the knight will kill King Yeworis with that sword, in his palace.'

Sentence-initial particles
Simbri sentences are frequently introduced by a number of particles, of adverbial or pragmatic value:

These serve as conjunctions, or to link different sentences together. Quite often they are best left untranslated in English: Yin apoa watala Čardosa

yin apoa wa-ta-la Čardosa

there.is yesterday 1-CL.8-at Čardosa

'(As it happens) I was yesterday in Čardosa) Qinet metldotatlna o mayan kādas tlammi baror

there.was OBV-CL.1-CL.6-APPL.PRF-sell OBV knight donkey lame-CL.1 revenge

'(So) He sold the knight a lame donkey for revenge.

Particles occur before all other elements in the sentence. They can be combined in a number of ways: Tān obi meronal weltinhi, očo qinet howin sintis

tān obi meron-al weltinh-i, očo qinet howin sintis

but of.course tavern-at student-PL / because it.was away master

'The students were at the tavern, of course, the master was away.'

Topic.
The topic is, essentially, what the sentence is about. It can be defined as established information, known to all participants in the discourse, about which the rest of the sentence (the comment) brings new information.

In Simbri the topic is the very first information in the sentence; separated from the rest of the sentence by an initial particle; the initial particle thus serve the dual function of introducing topics and connecting sentences. Amar ya tala tlayin

Amar ya ta-la tlayin

Amar TOP CL.8-in city

'As for Amar, he's in the city'. Kādas tān tletlandet.

Kādas tān tle-tland-et.

donkey however Cl.1-sell-PST

As for the donkey, however, he sold it.

Particles can be replaced by an adverb or an adjunct: Qiye čaya šissis. qiye čaya š-iss-is. you tomorrow 2-meet-FUT

'As for you, I'll see you tomorrow' Šōrsa Piyon mawotlal tlasset

š-ōrsa Piyon mawotl-al tl-ass-et

2-uncle Piyon army-at CL.1-PRF\meet-PST

Your uncle Piyon, I knew him in the army. This is only possible with single-word adverbials or adjuncts. With longer noun phrases, a particle must be added to mark the topic: *Memoh to-tlā baskar tessō


 * Memoh CL.7-under tree IPRF\read → Memoh yin totlā baskar tessō

Memoh yin to-tlā baskar tessō

Memoh there.is CL.7-under tree IPRF\read

'As for Memoh, he's reading under the tree.' As we can see in the examples above, the topic is often the subject of the sentence or, less frequently, the object. That is not necessarily the case; a sentence often will state something about the topic without it being a constituent at all: Nančo yin tlayin šalla an Bonaran.

nančo yin tlayin šalla an Bonaran

Mountain there.is city beautiful that Bonaran

'Bonaran is a beautiful mountain city; as for the mountains, Bonaran is a beautiful city there.' Ersih hayo hahmi tapriš

ersih hayo hahm-i tapr-iš

Earth.people.PL besides weird-PL helmet-PL

Besides, Earth people have weird helmets.

Negation.
Sentences are negated by the particle hān placed before the verb or non-verbal predicate: Ya ečaʾin hān watamnis bapi.

ečaʾin hān watamnis bapi

next.year not 1-CL.8-sow-FUT potato-PL

'Next year I won't plant potatoes.' Hān tala tletlal Noʾima

hān tala tletlal Noʾima

not CL.8-at CL.1-room No'ima

'No'ima isn't in her room.' Obi hān irsi sowāttlas.

obi hān irsi sowāttlas

of.course not singer 1.EXCL-grandfather

'Of course my grandfather wasn't a singer.'

If an adjunct is placed before the verb, the negative particle hān will be placed between it and the verb: Čaya hān watāpwanis

čaya hān watāpwanis

tomorrow not 1-headache-FUT

'Tomorrow I won't have a headache.' Teča howin sintis,  hān mandir weltinhi

teča howin sintis / hān mandir weltinh-i

when away master / not appropriate\PL student-PL

'When the master's away, the students don't behave well.'

Hān can also be used to introduce a topic -- in addition to its value as a negative: Šōrsa Piyon hān manhas.

šōrsa Piyon hān manhas

2-uncle Piyon not trustworthy.

Your uncle Piyon isn't trustworthy. Tilma hān ōqqamemri.

Tilma hān ōqqa-memr-i

Tilma not eat-IPRF\rodent-PL

In Tilma they don't eat rodents.

Double negation
Double negation is generally required ; that is, you need the particle han with the following negative words:

pomi and pocha
pomi, 'no one, nobody' (class 1) and pocha 'nothing' (class 7) Hān tlemender pomi qehsi. hān tlemender pomi qehsi.

not CL.1-IPRF\like nobody traitor

Nobody likes a traitor. Yin hān pomi.

yin hān pomi

there.is not nobody

'There's no one here'. Mawan hān teqqō pocha

mawan hān teqqō pocha

child not CL.7-eat nothing.

That child eats nothing.

Piyo
Piyo can often be translated as the number zero, but it's also used to specifically negate a noun. It also requires hān: Yin hān piyo sellis

yin hān piyo sellis

exist not zero money

There's no money here. Weyo hān piyo nāčča

w-eyo hān piyo nāčča

1-hand not zero horse

'I don't have a horse.' Memoh hān šanho piyo mayan

Memoh hān šanho piyo mayan

Memoh not obey zero lord

'Memoh obeys no lord.' Horiš hān miyer piyo wewčo

Horiš hān omiyer piyo wewčo.

hungry.ghost-PL not CL.2-drink zero wine.

'Hungry ghosts don't drink wine.'

poči, posim and pomon
The adverbs poči 'never', posim ' no way, impossible', pomon 'nowhere' also require hān. Ya poči hān watlwayam nače.

ya poči hān watlwayam nače.

anyway never not 1-CL.1-PRF\kill cat

'I never killed a cat.' Hān šitltolewqō bon Yeworis posim

hān ši-tl-to-lewqō bon Yeworis posim

not 2-CL.1-APPL\IPRF-hide king Yeworis impossible

'You can't hide from King Yeworis!' Obi posim hān tlesaswas wannin posim.

obi posim hān tle-saswas wannin posim.

of.course impossible not CL.1-\tame.

'Of cournt-PL nowhere.

I can't find the students anywhere. Yin pomon hān iwa tlama. yin pomon hān iwa tlam-a

there.is nowhere not river gold-CL.7

'There are no rivers of gold anywhere.'

worān
worān can be translated as 'neither', 'nor', 'either', or 'no longer'. In all cases, it requires double negation with hān.

In the construction hān... hān worān it is equivalent to 'neither... nor' Hān ewris motaš hān iris worān. hān ewr-is mot-aš hān ir-is worān.

not IPRF\speak-FUT llama-PL not bull-PL either

Neither llamas, nor bulls can speak. Hān yirsis, hān worān yiwris.

hān y-irs-is, hān worān yi-wr-is.

not 2-sing-FUT / not either 2-speak-FUT

'I will neither sing for you nor talk to you!' Hān tapratis hān worān hahretis

hān taprat-is hān worān hahret-is

not hat-with not either pants-with

'He had neither a hat nor pants on.'

In other cases, it's often translated as 'no longer', 'not anymore.' Hān wananyet worān.

hān wa-nany-et worān

not 1-be.afraid-PAST either

I wasn't afraid any longer. Hān worān siwor Katqam.

hān worān s-iwor Katqam.

not either 1.EXCL-speak Katqam

Katqam doesn't speak to me anymore.

Questions
Pomi tlemender qehsi posim

pomi tlemender qehsi posim

nobody CL.1-IPRF\like traitor impossible

'No one ever likes a traitor.'

Yes no questions.
Yes-no question are formed by adding the question particle čo.

čoo is added before the main verb or non-verbal predicate: Čo moriš Ersih?

čo moriš Ersih

Q human-PL Earth-FROM.PL

Are Earth people humans? Mičča ya nas čo šikminder?

mičča ya nas as co ši-k-minder

beer anyway true Q 2-UCT-like

The beer, you like it? Yin čo hān tahāči?

yin čo hān ta-hā-či

exist Q not UCT-know-PST

So you didn't know that?

Čo can be added at the end of the sentence instead. That generally means a positive answer is expected: Šiqertli čo?

ši-qertli co

2-ripe or?

You're drunk aren't you? Čo hān is used when a negative answer is expected. Āmasis tlebetlām wiwāttlas čo hān?

ām-asis tle-betlâm wi-wâttlas co qân

MOV-PRF\meet ANIM-demijohn 1.OBL-grandfather Q not

You haven't touched grandpa's demijohn, have you?

Interrogatives
Interrogatives are fronted, in focus position before the verb: Lawi šitlšowan?

lawi ši-tl-šow-an

who 2s-CL.1-PRF\see-MED

Who did you see?

There is a potential ambiguity with lawi 'who?' when the sentence involves several animates: Lawi tatletlānda akot?

lawi ta-tle-tlānda akot

who CT-ANIM-PRF\sell ruin

'Who sold him this ruin?' or 'Who did he sell this ruin to?'

Lador tlesādor?

la-dor tle-sā-dor

what.CL.6 house

Which house is this? Pan-piping with inversion Innet Hoammas tlemas Amaya

inn-et Hoammas tle-mas Amaya

take-PST Hoammas CL.1-dog Amaya

'Hoammas took Amaya's dog.' ?tle-mas lawi innet Hoammas

Lawi tlemas innet Hoamas

who CL.1-dog take-PST Hoammas

'Whose dog did Hoammas take?' Ātlā losrām nate

ā-tlā losrām nate

CL.5-under table cat

'The cat is under the table'. Lača ā-tlā nate?

lača ā-tlā nate

what.CL.5 CL.5-under cat

'What is the cat under?' 'Which piece of furniture is the cat under?'

Pivot
I want you to serve me.

Wayidro shiiko

Wachemon ik

Noun phrase structure
basic order:

DEMONSTRATIVE - QUANTIFIER - RELATIONAL - NOUN - ATTRIBUTIVE - POSSESSIVE

scrambling:

Yes-no questions
just for fun, sample sentences:

Weltinha Memoh. Lača ātlā nate? Lawi tlemas innet Hoammas? Tasōr tlayin ma. Apoa watala Čardosa. Yin čo hān tahāči? Teča howin sintis, meronal weltinhi. Habon ermo ečain tola nanči.

Čo moriš Ersih? Mičča ya nas čo šikminder?

Tlebaho wannin somā. Lawi šitlšowan? Lawi tatletlānda akot? Dotletečman sōrsa Piyon an sādor sohāysa. Metldotatlna o mayan kādas tlammi baror. Čaya tleātawaymis mayan bon Yeworisan boyam dosōr tlenamon.

Yin apoa watala Čardosa. Qinet metldotatlna o mayan kādas tlammi baror. Tān obi meronal weltinhi, očo qinet howin sintis

Šiqertli čo? Āmasis tlebetlām wiwāttlas čo hān? Lador tlesādor? Innet Hoammas tlemas Amaya. Ātlā losrām nate.